Authors: Sweet Baby Girl Entertainment

i b9efbdf1c066cc69 (23 page)

“Aww…look at this!” Catalina interrupted the men. “Brotherly love!”

Kieran stepped aside and grinned at Catalina. “And that’s my cue to go. I’ll see you tonight, J.” He then left.

Joey shifted his stance as Catalina closed the door behind her and approached him. For the year he had been single, she had been particularly aggressive in trying to bed him, only to be repeatedly shot down like a fighter jet with every attempt. She finally stopped a few months back and Joey sang soft praises to heaven’s choir for their generosity.

“How can I help you, Cat?” He asked.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done! The place looks great and you all should be proud of opening a third location.” She smiled. “Very well done.”

“Thank you, thank you. A lot of hard work but it paid off.” Joey nodded. “Was there

anything I could help you with?”

“I just wanted to say thank you for everything. Over the past year, I realized I was chasing a fantasy when I had a great reality in front of me all along.” Catalina presented her left hand to Joey. It boasted of a large diamond solitaire ring. “And I just wanted to say thank you for making me realize there were other fish in the sea.”

“You’re welcome,” Joey’s face was emotionless.

“
She
makes me very happy,” Catalina pressed.

“She, huh?” Joey was surprised. “Well, good for you. Was there anything else?”

“No,” Catalina smiled and tousled her hair back, “that was it. I’ll leave you alone now.”

“Oh, Cat. One last thing.” Joey walked up to her. He forced her against a nearby wall, and wrapped one of her legs around his waist. His mouth latched onto her neck, suckling and licking it before his tongue trailed her jawline. They both moved in unison, dry-humping each other in his office as Catalina clutched at Joey’s back and moaned his name.

She felt his erection pressing into her and desperately wanted to feel him inside her. But that moment wouldn’t happen. Instead she climaxed and shook, letting the waves of ecstasy roll over her body.

“You can eat all the salad you want but eventually, you’re going to want a steak.” Joey reminded her.

Twenty-Eight

He smiled proudly like a father seeing his newborn son for the first time.

Joey knew Zoe was ridiculously talented but he didn’t realize just how much she was.

Bright colors such as pink, lime, and purple streamed down the runway for the girls’ collection.

Collared polos, suit and tie ensembles, and jeans highlighted the boys’ collection. He overheard several industry bigwigs commenting on how popular they thought
Tyson’s Heart
was going to be in stores and some wishing they got in on the action when the opportunity was presented.

It was the higher-end line,
Olive Juice
, that really caught Joey’s attention. He didn’t want to think too much about the name of the line, though a part him knew it was an ode to their former relationship.

Was Zoe giving him some sort of sign? Again, Joey didn’t want to make that leap, even if the thought wouldn’t leave him.

All of the children models came out at the end of the show, once again strutting the runway to whoops and hollers from the crowd. After the last model, Zoe came out carrying Gianna with one hand and walking alongside Tyson. She waved to the audience and mouthed several thank you’s to the audience. When she hit the end of the runway, she turned around to make the walk back when she briefly spotted Joey in the audience, looking directly at her.

Joey didn’t say a word but his eyes told Zoe everything she wanted to hear. Warmth.

Happiness. And if she assumed correctly, she saw love within them.

She fought back tears and tried to focus on the runway ahead of her, hoping she wasn’t going to trip and fall down on her expensive Gucci heels. She wanted a moment to see him again, talk to him, let him know that she was sorry for everything and she wanted another chance to make it right, to make
them
right. But she had to keep moving. It wasn’t the time nor the place for romantic reunions, if there was going to be one. She had a job to do and that was that.

Still, a part of Zoe wanted to test the waters; to see if the hope she had within her was somehow fallible and undeniable or if she was holding onto a distant memory and old times.

Quickly, within a blink of an eye, she mouthed the fateful words to Joey and waited for his reaction. If he replied, it would’ve made her night. If he didn’t, she knew where she stood with him.

Swallowing hard, she locked eyes with Joey. “Olive juice,” she mouthed.

Joey smiled back. “Olive juice you too,” he mouthed.

****

“Well, that’s it! We are all done!” Stephanie cleaned up the backstage area. “Are you

meeting us at the after-party? A lot of movers and shakers are going to be there.”

“Yeah, I just need to check out some things first before I go,” Zoe played with her phone,

“and then I’ll be there.”

Stephanie walked over to her boss and had a small smile on her face. “I saw that you two made eye contact.”

“You saw that, huh?” Zoe acknowledged.

“So what’s going on?” Stephanie inquired. “Are you cool now? Or y’all still pretending that you hate each other?”

“It was the first time I’ve seen him in a year, Steph.” Zoe dismissed her assistant. “And you’re asking me if we’re about to get married.”

“Well, are you?” Stephanie laughed.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “I haven’t seen him since then. He didn’t come backstage and that’s that.”

Stephanie’s mouth opened wide upon seeing the new visitor. “I would say that’s a hasty statement.”

“What?” Zoe looked up at her and turned to see what Stephanie was looking at. Before her, was Joey, holding a single long-stemmed red rose.

Stephanie glanced between the former couple. “I see you two have a lot to catch up on so I’m going to head to the afterparty. Zoe, I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Zoe replied back.

Stephanie walked to Joey and stopped in front of him. “She still loves you even if she doesn’t say it.” She whispered to him.

“Thanks for the heads up.” He whispered back before she left. Joey walked over to Zoe and presented the rose to her. It was custom-made with
Olive Juice
emblazoned on the petals.

“You did good out there, kid.”

Zoe took the rose and smelled it. Beautiful memories of the first time Joey surprised her with roses at Fits and Giggles flooded her mind. She loved and missed him more than she realized. “Thank you. It was a lot of hard work but it paid off.”

“It did,” Joey smiled, “you should be very proud. I know everyone in the family is.”

“I’m very glad to hear that,” Zoe smiled. “That makes me happy.”

“Well, I don’t see why they wouldn’t. You saw Kieran’s and Tiana’s vision and went

above and beyond it. Just amazing work, Zo.”

The way his deep baritone said her name made Zoe feel all sorts of flutters. She briefly put a hand on her chest to steady her pounding heartbeat. “Thank you.”

“Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say to you. I hope all is well in your world.” Joey slightly nodded and started to leave before Zoe touched his arm. He turned back towards her; his breathing became shallow and his mouth cottony. “Yes?”

There were no words Zoe wanted to say, just action. She pulled Joey in closer and wrapped her hands around his head. Their lips met each other’s repeatedly, not missing a step, despite how long it had been. She opened her mouth and Joey playfully forced his tongue inside.

Zoe pulled away from him long enough to speak. “I want my own career, Joey.”

Joey hurriedly unfastened Zoe’s blouse. “I won’t interrupt.”

“I want to make all decisions regarding what I do with my life,” she unbuckled his pants.

Joey pulled off Zoe’s blouse. “That’s fine.”

Zoe abruptly stopped the action between them. “I want you…forever. No more games, no more lies, no more crap. Just us.”

“Was that ever a question?” Joey gave a sensual smile. “
Sei tutto cio' di cui ho bisogno
.”

“You’re talking fancy knowing I can’t understand you.” Zoe smiled.

“You’re everything I need,” he translated, “and I’m not letting you go this time.”

“I don’t want you to,” Zoe whispered back. “We’re going to be late to the afterparty.”

“You’re right,” he conceded and began to put his clothing back on when his girlfriend stopped him. “What?”

“I said we’re going to be late; I didn’t say we’re stopping!”

Epilogue

Four years later…

“And this is where the magic happens,” Eli introduced the warehouse to the cameras, “this is where we create all of the designs right here. As you can see, it’s pretty big, about twenty thousand square feet. We have anywhere between two to three hundred events every month.

From weddings to anniversary celebrations to corporate gatherings to television network parties, we do it all right here.”

“And cut!” The director yelled. “That’s good. We need to get some shots of you working with another client. Do you think we can get a frazzled one coming in today?”

“Today?” Joey smirked. “Try any hour.”

The reputation of Madre’s grew so large the family snagged their own reality show, aptly titled,
Madre’s
. The show was proven to be a runaway success, with many female viewers tuning in to see the hottest brother duo on television. Joey and Eli had earned at least two magazine covers so far with many more pending. The TV show also brought more attention to the other brothers, boosting Kieran’s and Tiana’s clothing line and raising Nick’s profile at the university.

Tony parlayed his brother’s popularity into expanding his barber shop into two stores.

“Can we shoot tomorrow?” Eli glanced down at his watch. “I need to pick up the little men from school and day care.”

“Yeah and I need to go home to my girl.” Joey added. “She gets feisty when I don’t come home with food.”

“Well, she is pregnant.” Eli smiled.

“And she will not let me forget it.” Joey said, exasperated. “I’ll catch you later, bro.”

“Later, J.”

Joey left the warehouse and made his way back to his shared TriBeCa apartment with his life partner, Zoe. “
Regina,
I’m home, baby.”

Zoe waddled out in the middle of the living room, boasting a tired smile on her face. She was nearing the last days of pregnancy and couldn’t be happier she was about to give birth.

Pregnancy was cute for the first several months but the last few weeks began to kick her ass. Her pregnancy didn’t slow down designs for Tyson’s Heart and Olive Juice, though. Zoe still worked on sketches and made plans to supervise designs while she was on maternity leave. “Hey baby,”

she greeted Joey with a kiss, “how was production today?”

“Long and drawn-out,” Joey shrugged, “reality bullshit.”

“Hey!” Zoe covered his mouth and pointed to her pregnant belly. “Ear muffs!”

“Sorry,” Joey muffled.

Zoe took the bag of food away from him and opened it. “Ooh, Chinese! Just what I was craving!”

Joey followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the counter. “How are they?”

“They’re good. Baby A decided to chill for the past hour while Baby B is making up for lost time.” Zoe fixed the plates for both of them.

“Twins,” Joey shook his head in both amusement and amazement. “Just my luck. I would be the brother with twins.”

“You’re lucky one of them is a boy,” Zoe gave a slight nod to her partner, “because if both were girls…”

“There aren’t enough shotguns and ammo in the world,” he finished as Zoe laughed, “you think I’m playing?”

Zoe walked around to Joey and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think it’s adorable how protective you are of us.”

“Hey, it’s my little group right here,” he motioned over her womb, “just us. Of course I’m going to protect mine with everything I got.”

“And letting me have control, right?” Zoe smiled.

“It’s like what a wise man once told me,” Joey began, “it’s not so much letting you have control but rather letting you
think
you have it.” He smiled.

The End

OTHER TITLES BY VERA ROBERTS:

THE D’AMATO BROTHERS SERIES:

THE NANNY

TO LOVE AND OBEY

WHERE I WANNA BE

THE SCOTT & MARIANA SERIAL:

S&M

S&M II

DISCIPLINE

S&M III, VOL. I

S&M III, VOL. II